SWEET EASTER PIZZA

For me, Easter isn’t really Easter without an Easter Pizza. My Grandma Rose, who happens to be Italian and also the world’s greatest cook (in my opinion), created this magnificent recipe. This isn’t any ordinary pizza. In fact, it looks nothing like a pizza and tastes nothing like a pizza. The best way I can describe it is that it’s sort of a cross between a soufflé and rice pudding. It’s airy and light, and has the perfect amount of sweetness.

There are all sorts of different kinds of Easter Pizza; each region of Italy and/or family has their own special variation. My Grandma used to make this sweeter version, and a more savory version that included ham. Since the sweeter version was always my favorite, that’s the one I decided to share with all of you!


Grandma Rose’s Sweet Easter Pizza

Filling
5 eggs – beaten with a fork
1 cup dry Acini di Pepe pasta (cooked, drained, and rinsed in cold water)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups ricotta
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco (shortening)
1/2 cup ice water

Egg wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon whole milk


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare pie crust first. Combine all ingredients for crust in a large bowl and knead until combined. (do not knead too much) Roll into ball, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for 30 min.

While pie crust is in fridge, start on filling. Combine beaten eggs, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl. Add cooked pasta and ricotta. Sir until combined.

Remove pie crust from refrigerator. Cut in half. Roll out one half and place in bottom of 8x12 baking pan. Pour filling in crust. Roll out other half of pie crust and place on top. Pinch sides and remove any overhanging crust.

Combine egg and milk in a small bowl for egg wash. Lightly brush the egg wash over the top of the easter pizza before putting in the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

R

COLO-RAD-O

This past weekend, I took a trip out to Colorado Springs, CO to visit my brother. As usual, I had a great time! Here are a few highlights from the weekend….

First stop: The Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver, CO

Considering the fact that over 23 million barrels of beer are produced in Colorado each year, making it 1st in the nation in beer production per capita; it’s always high on my list to check out a different brewery each time I go. This trip, we ended up at The Great Divide Brewing Company and it was excellent. If you find yourself in Denver, I would highly recommend checking them out.

their Denver Pale Ale (DPA)which turned out to be my favorite

Best meal of the trip: Root Down in Denver, CO

Root Down’s kitchen focuses on locally sourced ingredients and even gives a shout out to each of their local suppliers on the menu, which I thought was pretty cool. With an unbeatable view of the Denver skyline, and lucky for me the most gorgeous cherry blossom trees in full bloom right outside, I was in a serious happy place while eating there. With great service, inventive fresh food, and a fun casual atmosphere; I’ll definitely be returning on my next trip out.

My favorite food item of the entire weekend: Roasted root vegetable salad with a maple Mascarpone crostini, smoked Prosciutto, and roasted pistachios. I can’t wait to try and re-create this dish at home.

Another really great dish: Diver scallops with plantain hash, lemon-habanero tartar sauce, micro basil, and crispy red onions

Best hotel in the area: The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO

Modeled after the opulence and extravagance of the finest hotels in Europe, The Broadmoor was built in 1918 by a wealthy entrepreneur and his wife. No expense was spared and it still shows today. Every Sunday, they host a fantastic brunch and it has become a tradition every time I visit.

I can't get over how beautiful all the ceilings are

Me and my brother

R

COACHELLA

Sleep is at the top of my list of hobbies. Kicking one leg out onto the comforter and laying diagonally across the bed is my idea of a really good time.


However, I did not do much sleeping this weekend, so forgive me if I don't make any sense or am redundant.  I almost feel drunk.


So as Rachel was off to Denver, I was on my way to Coachella with a big group.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Coachella, it's a huge 3-day music festival held over by Palm Springs, in the town of Indio, CA.  This was my first time ever going and I realized I'd been missing out on so much. I mean, I'm not totally high maintenance and can roll with the punches, but I was expecting a big dust bowl littered with trash, with unruly fans on drugs who had no regard for others, who were ready to throw you into a mosh pit if you looked at them the wrong way.  

My experience was the opposite of what I'd envisioned.  The fans were surprisingly respectful of one another's space.  And the enormity of the lush polo fields blew me away.  Seeing the grass able to withstand the 250,000 people traipsing around to the different stages made me rethink next year's Coachella outfits.  You can actually wear cute shoes and mud won't ruin them because there's grass everywhere!  The event organizers have perfected every last detail of this festival.  There were trailers with showers and bathrooms, ample security and medical personnel, and plenty of food & drink options.  There were 6 impressively constructed stages where 189 bands performed over the three days.  The bands we were able to see: Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Duran Duran, The Strokes, Neon Trees, Kanye West.  We missed Kings of Leon on Friday (shoot!) but had soooooo much fun with the rest of the lineup. 

Taking in an Arcade Fire performance alongside other revelers

Let's go back to the food now.  So I'd never eaten anything from the famous Kogi Food Truck that was parked behind the bar area.  You can imagine how excited I was to not only eat delicious food (I was famished after a long day out in the sun + drinking alcohol), but to try one of the places on my list of places to dine!  The line was really long, but we were definitely willing to wait.  Over the course of the weekend, there'd been a constant line at the Kogi truck...and to me, that's a good thing, for you knew the food had to be delicious. 

A 20 minute wait

The friendly girl who suggested what to order.  She did a FINE job!!

I have to warn you, the food pictures you're about to see aren't our normal food pictures.  They're not exactly of post-worthy quality.  You have to remember that I was in concert mode, it was night time, I was heavily buzzed, with hungry friends that don't care about Rachel's and my food blog as much as we do!  It was difficult to stave off the grabby hands as I fumbled with camera settings, but I was able to fire off (below) this bird's eye shot of what was my favorite meal at the concert.  The pizzas on the top right were from Wood Fired Flatbread Pizza Co. (pictures below) and the Kogi tacos are in the brown paper trays.

Kogi Tacos from top (clockwise): Short Rib Tacos with Kimchee, Spicy Pork Tacos, Kogi Beef Sliders. 

A very impressive mobile stone pizza oven

The tacos had so many flavor combinations (such as spicy & sweet, spicy & savory, spicy with pickles) with so much depth and so many textures, that a little taco, went a long way.  And each taco was $3.  How sweet is that?  The pizza was really good, but the Kogi tacos were much more satisfying.

We ended up going to the concert for about 5 hours each day, starting our nights around 7pm.  So my boyfriend and I spent our days with his sister, her husband and their kids, with whom we were staying in nearby Palm Springs.  Our weekend was a great balance of quality time playing with the kids, as well as adult time. 

On Saturday, we took golf carts and drove through a golf course, studying people's golf swings, admiring the architecture of some of the houses...but mainly we took the carts so we could load them up with the oranges, grapefruits and lemons we set off to pick!

Cole found the perfect orange tree

A nearby grapefruit tree

And Ava took cover in the shade.  Picking fruit in 100 degree heat can be exhausting!

We trespassed onto a property (oops!) with 5 of the most gorgeous Meyer lemon trees I'd ever seen. 

We ate the lemon wedges as if they were oranges.  Sweet, yet mostly tart.  100% tasty!

Our colorful golf cart!

After we went back to the house to make orange and grapefruit juice, we went crazy with the snacks...

I've never met two kids who prefer veggies to junk food!  They're all about eating clean.  So grown up.  And so adorable.

There was a lot going on this weekend and I have to say that I wouldn't change anything about it. Yeah, I would liked to have gotten more sleep, but then I would've missed out on something.  So I'm hittin' the hay early tonight to recover.  See you guys next year at Coachella!!!

M

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO COOKIES

I usually don’t have a very big sweet tooth, but I got a really strong craving this week for some chocolate espresso cookies. After looking through several different recipes, I decided on this one, by Giada de Laurentiis. I liked the fact that she used chocolate covered espresso beans in hers to give it a stronger Espresso flavor.

Double Chocolate and Espresso Cookies

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (recommended: Ghirardelli)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup dark chocolate-covered espresso beans
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (recommended: Nestle Toll House)

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

In the bowl of a food processor, finely chop the chocolate covered espresso beans. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chopped espresso beans, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, water, and vanilla extract. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir until thick and smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a cookie or ice cream scoop, scoop level 1/4 cupfuls of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until slightly puffed and the tops begin to crack, 18 to 20 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets and serve.



Chocolate covered Espresso beans after going in the food processor



Melted semi-sweet chocolate and unsalted butter

Flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and chopped Espresso beans

The dry mixture above with the egg mixture added

With melted chocolate and butter added

So here's where I made a little mistake. I got the cookies on the baking sheets, in the oven and realized I completely forgot to stir in the semi-sweet chocolate chips!!! Smooth move, Rachel. Instead of yanking them out of the oven, throwning my chip-less cookies away, and starting from scratch, I decided to let them finish baking and see how they turned out. I'm glad I let them finish because, they turned out great! Since they already have so much chocolate in them, it wasn't a deal-breaker that the chips were missing.

To make up for my little chocolate chip snafu, I decided to put a big scoop of my favorite mint chip ice cream between two of the cookies and make an ice cream sandwich.

I would definitely reccommend making these cookies--but with the chips! Even though they turned out just fine without them, I bet they'd be that much better with them.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm heading out to Colorado to visit my brother--fingers are crossed for nice weather!

R

MORNING DELIGHT

Oh, how I love a yogurt parfait...

I don't know if you get as excited around granola as I do.  And you don't even have to be a hippy to enjoy it!

I've always wondered why just a 1/2 cup of granola is a whopping 200 calories.  So I set off to find a healthy recipe for granola.

Didn't find one.

Instead, I created my own with about 3 different recipes as a guide.  This homemade granola is very peanutty, and also has some nice saltiness (from the pumpkin seeds and peanuts) and chewiness (from the dried currants).  It's SO much better than all the commercially produced granola...and on par with fancy granola you might find at specialty grocers.  It also makes your house smell wonderful as you bake a batch in the oven.

PEANUT BUTTERY GRANOLA
About 7 cups granola

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup shelled, roasted peanuts
1 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
1 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup sliced roasted almond I found in my pantry

1 cup dried currants

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky (I used smooth)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable or olive oil


***Heat oven to 275°F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, combine oats, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds or whatever nuts you like, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Be sure to also add the dried currants (or whatever dried food you like) into this oat mixture.

In a small saucepan, mix the honey and brown sugar.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.  Pour over the oat mixture.  Pour in the oil, and stir thoroughly.  The mixture will be chunky and rough.  If you feel like getting your paws dirty, go ahead and mix the oats with your clean hands.  This will allow the mixture to be spread more evenly onto the oats.

Spread the oat mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes (I used tongs) while baking.  

Allow to cool once out of the oven.

Store for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.  But I don't think the granola will last that long, given that this is a 10 out of 10 on the delicious-o-meter.

And it can only get more delicious in a parfait.  You can use any fruit you want, but berries seem to work the best.  I would also use either a vanilla, honey, or even plain flavored yogurt.  But nothing too sugary because the granola and fruit will be plenty sweet!

***Make sure your oven isn't too hot because you don't want the granola to burn.  If you like a lighter, less carmelized taste, set your oven to 250 F, but allow your granola to bake for a bit longer...around 55 minutes to an hour.  Enjoy!

 M